European inventory of
societal values of culture

Cerulo - Identity Construction

Cerulo, K. A. (1997). Identity Construction: New Issues, New Directions. Annual Review of Sociology, 23(1): 385–409.

Throughout the 1970s, the sociological study of identity was dominated by microsociological perspectives. In other words, sociologists focused primarily on the formation of the ‘me’ component of identity, exploring the way in which interpersonal interactions mould an individual’s sense of self. This article explores an approach that can be seen as an antithesis to the sociological preoccupations of the 1970s. It refocuses attention from the individual to the collective, relying on more recent literature, prioritising discourse over the systematic scrutiny of behaviour, approaching identity as a source of mobilisation rather than a product of it, and finally exploring how the analysis of virtual identities relates to that devoted to analysing identities in the co-present world. Key works published since 1980 are included in the discussion, followed by an attempt to synthesise traditional and current concerns.